POLITICS AND WORLD RELIGION BLHV

Transcription

1 Georgetown University Summer 2017 BALS Program Course Info POLITICS AND WORLD RELIGION BLHV Wednesdays, 5:15 PM 8:15 PM, 640 Mass. Ave, NW Course Description Religious terrorism is on the rise. Even a cursory glance at world affairs will show that religion and politics is at the heart of today s ongoing struggle between nations and ideology. Religion may be a motivator and catalyst in rallying popular support for waging war, and in fact may play a significant role in nurturing communal strife among various faith groups in their struggle to achieve governmental control. This course is designed to acquaint students with the analytical study of religion, politics and conflict on the world stage. By design, the course is interdisciplinary, covering areas in religion (theology/philosophy), sociology (ethno-religious & identity conflicts), ethics and politics. Students will have an opportunity to focus on one or more of these areas for their semester paper. This course will help students comprehend the global resurgence of religion in intra-state and international affairs, and will focus on specific areas in the world where religion is the primary issue. Through classroom lecture and discussion, reading assignments, media and student presentations, we will address the role religion and politics play in various global conflicts, the determination of whether religion is the basis of a given conflict, and possible resolutions to these conflicts. Instructor Gregory Havrilak, Ph.D. Assistant Professor gch9@georgetown.edu; phone: Office: ; Cell: Office Hours: Wednesdays, 4:00 5:00 PM, 640 Mass. Ave, NW, or by appointment Course Goals To provide an intellectual framework and analytical tools for students to discuss, reflect upon, understand, and propose solutions to a variety of religion and conflict issues throughout the world. Evaluation Students are expected to attend lectures, read assigned texts, submit term paper & essays, and participate in discussion, as well as display an ability to absorb, comprehend, and analyze the course material.

2 2 Course Requirements Reading Assignments Submit three short analytical essays (3 pages each, max) on assigned readings. Topics will be distributed for take home one week in advance. Mid-Term Evaluation Submit one page paper Oral Presentation: a 10-minute review of your semester paper Study Groups Depending on class size, study groups (usually four) will be formed to prepare class presentations on world hot spots. These 20-minute group presentations will take place on Nov. 16. Grading Policy Final grade for the course will be based on the following: 1. Class Participation 10% 2. Analytical Essays 30% (10 X 3) 3. Research Paper 30% 4. Mid Term Evaluation 10% 4. Oral Presentation 20% Grade Table % = A % = A % = B % = B % = B % = C % = C % = C % = D % = D Below 60 % = F Learning Objectives The following objectives are built into the pedagogy of this course syllabus: 1. To provide awareness, knowledge & understanding of the global resurgence of religiously motivated conflict and violence 2. To help students understand the cultural, psychological, political & religious/theological foundations for religion and conflict on the world stage 3. To provide the building blocks for students to develop models of reconciliation and peace to religion and conflict issues on the world stage

3 3 Disabilities Statement If you believe you have a disability, then you should contact the Academic Resource Center (arc@georgetown.edu) for further information. The Center is located in the Leavey Center, Suite 335. The Academic Resource Center is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students with disabilities and for determining reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and University policies. Turnitin.com Students acknowledge that by taking this course all required papers can be submitted for a Textual Similarity Review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on the Turnitin.com site. Georgetown Honor System All students are expected to follow Georgetown s honor code unconditionally. We assume you have read the honor code material located at and in particular have read the following documents: Honor Council Pamphlet, What is Plagiarism?, Sanctioning Guidelines, and Expedited Sanctioning Process. Submitting material in fulfillment of the requirements of this course means that you have abided by the Georgetown honor pledge: In the pursuit of the high ideals and rigorous standards of academic life, I commit myself to respect and uphold the Georgetown Honor System: To be honest in any academic endeavor, and to conduct myself honorably, as a responsible member of the Georgetown community, as we live and work together. Work that appears to have been plagiarized or otherwise violated the Honor Code will be reported to Georgetown s Honor Council. If the Council finds that the work violates the university s standards of academic honesty, the work will receive a grade of zero for the assignment for the first offense; a second infraction will earn an F for the course. The Honor Council may impose sanctions of its own as well. Devices All electronic devices will be turned off at the beginning of class. Readings Assignments Required readings for each class are listed below, and should be completed before the class period. All others are highly recommended, and may be referred to in class. Shorter articles will be uploaded to Blackboard. Additional websites and recently declassified government documents will be made available in class. Attendance and Late Arrival Attendance is mandatory, and roll call will be taken at the beginning of each class. Being late by 10 minutes or more will constitute an absence. Students with two absences for any

4 4 reason may receive a failing grade for the course. If you miss a class it is your responsibility to make up any assignments on time and obtain class handouts. Students are expected to behave in class in accordance with the Code of Campus Conduct. Late Assignments No credit will be given for any assignment that is submitted late without the prior approval of the instructor. Prior Approval means the student has communicated with the instructor before the assignment deadline. An assignment that is submitted late with the instructor s approval will have its grade reduced by 10 percent for every day it is late. Required Texts Madeleine Albright, The Mighty & the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007). ISBN: Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (London: Harper Collins, 2000). ISBN: Marc Gopin, Between Eden and Armageddon (Oxford: University Press, 2000). ISBN X; (paperback)., Holy War, Holy Peace (Oxford: University Press, 2002). ISBN ; (paperback). Jerald D. Gort, Ed., Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation (Amsterdam-New York: Editions Rodopi B.V., 2002). ISBN: Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003). ISBN: 13: Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran (New York: Continuum, 2003), ISBN David R. Smock, Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2002). ISBN: Qamar-Ul Huda, Ed., Crescent and Dove (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2010). ISBN (pbk). Course Syllabus Week 1, First Class, May 22 Introduction to the Course Foundations of Religious Conflict Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God (New York: Random House, 2000), Part One: The Old World and the New, 3-97.

5 5 Jerald D. Gort & Hendrik M. Vroom, Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation, in Jerald D. Gort, Ed., Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation: Multifaith Ideals and Realities (New York: Editions Rodopi B.V., 2004), Hendrik M. Vroom, The Nature of Religious Conflict: Some Philosophical Considerations, Gort, Week 2, May 29, Memorial Day NO CLASS Week 3, June 5 What Initiates Religious Conflict? Writing Exercise Madeleine Albright, The Mighty & the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007), Part One: God, Liberty, Country, Marc Gopin, Between Eden and Armageddon (Oxford: University Press, 2000), Chapter Three, Why Modern Culture Fails to Understand Religiously Motivated Violence, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran (New York: Continuum, 2003), Mark Juergensmeyer, "Religious Terrorism as Performance Violence," Chapter 17 in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence, Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, and Michael Jerryson, eds., (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), Week 4, June 12 Religious Conflict from Family Myth and Culture First Analytical Essay questions distributed Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God, Marc Gopin, Holy War, Holy Peace (Oxford: University Press, 2002), Monica Duffy Toft, "Religion and Political Violence," Chapter 22 in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence, Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, and Michael Jerryson, eds., (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), Week 5, June 19 Organized Religion as a Locus of Blame First Analytical Essay Due: 3 pages max Madeleine Albright, The Mighty & the Almighty, Part Two, Cross, Crescent, Star, Marc Gopin, HWHP,

6 6 Mark Juergensmeyer, ed., Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise in Religious Violence, 3 rd ed. (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 2003). Optional: Assaf Moghadem, The Salafi-Jihad as a Religious Ideology, (West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center, 2008), Optional: Soren Kern, Salafi-Jihadists: Persistent Threat to Europe and America, Gatestone Institute: International Policy Council, 2014, Week 6, June 26 On the Road to Transformation Marc Gopin, HWHP, Optional: Michael Nazir-Ali, Conviction and Conflict (London: Continuum, 2006), Week 7, July 3 Models of Reconciliation in Abrahamic Religions Second Analytical Essay questions distributed Marc Gopin, What is Missing from Religious Approaches to War & Peace, Chapter Four, BEA, Madeleine Albright, The Mighty and the Almighty, Tzvi Marx, Theological Preparation for Reconciliation in Judaism, Gort, Cees Van der Kooi, Three Models of Reconciliation: A Christian Approach, Gort, Week 8, June 10 Models of Reconciliation: Judaism Second Analytical Essay due: 3 pages max Mid-Term Evaluation Jerald D. Gort, Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation: Ecumenical Initiatives Amidst Human Brokenness and Community Divisions, Gort, Gopin, Chapter Six, Healing Religious/Secular Conflict, BEA, Week 9, July 17 Models of Reconciliation: Islam Topics Due for Semester Research Paper Anton Wessels, Can the Children of Abraham be Reconciled: Ishmael and Isaac in the Bible and the Qur an, Gort, Ronald Young, American Jews, Christians, and Muslims Working Together in the Middle East, in David R. Smock, Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building, David R.

7 7 Smock, ed. (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2002), Posted on Blackboard. Week 10, July 24 Models of Reconciliation: Islam, continued Third Analytical Essay questions distributed Piet Meiring, Truth and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Gort, Farid Esack, An Islamic View of Conflict and Reconciliation in the South African Situation, Gort, Asma Afsaruddin, Recovering the Early Semantic Purview of Jihad and Martyrdom, Qamar-ul Huda, ed., Crescent and Dove, Optional: Itjihad: Reinterpreting Islamic Principles for the Twenty-First Century, Special Report 125 (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2004). Week 11, July 31 Patterns in Abrahamic Reconciliation Third Analytical Essay due: 3 pages max Gopin, Patterns of Abrahamic Reconciliation, HWHP, Optional: Everett L. Worthington, ed., Dimensions of Forgiveness: Psychological Research and Theological Perspectives (Templeton Foundation Press, 1998). Optional: Kevin Avruch, Culture and Conflict Resolution (Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace, 1998). Week 12, Aug 7 Models of Reconciliation: the Balkans Study Group Presentations Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts (New York: St Martin s Press), Part One: Yugoslavia: Historical Overtures, Donna Winslow, Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation in Bosnia Herzegovina, Gort, Optional: Scott Appleby, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998Marc Gopin, Holy War, Holy Peace, Optional: David Steele, Contributions of Interfaith Dialogue to Peacebuilding in Former Yugoslavia, Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building, David R. Smock, Ed,

8 8 Week 13, Aug 14 Last Class Peace and Reconciliation Final Oral Student Presentations Optional: Mohammed Abu-Nimer, The Miracles of Transformation through Interfaith Dialogue: Are You a Believer? in David R. Smock, Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building, Optional: Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Conflict Resolution and Religion: Toward A Model of Interreligious Peacebuilding, Journal of Peace Research 38, no. 6 (November). Final Research Paper Due: Aug 21, 2017 through Turnitin.com by 11:59 PM Primary Sources READING LIST Akbar Ahmed, Journey into Islam (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007). Michael Nazir-Ali, Conviction and Conflict (London: Continuum, 2006). Madeleine Albright, The Mighty & the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007). Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (London: Harper Collins, 2000). Juan R.I. Cole, The Rise of Religious and Ethnic Mass Politics in Iraq, in David Little and Donald K. Swearer, eds., Religion and Nationalism in Iraq (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006), Ron Geaves, Aspects of Islam (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005). Dore Gold, The Fight for Jerusalem (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2007). Marc Gopin, Between Eden and Armageddon (Oxford: University Press, 2000)., Holy War, Holy Peace (Oxford: University Press, 2002). Jerald D. Gort, Ed., Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation (Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V., 2002). Vartan Gregorian, Islam: A Mosaic, Not A Monolith (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2003).

9 9 Qamar-ul Huda, ed., Crescent and Dove (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2010). Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3 rd ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003). Robert D. Kaplan, Warrior Politics (New York: Random House, 2003). Soren Kern, Salafi-Jihadists: Persistent Threat to Europe and America, Gatestone Institute: International policy Council, 2014, Khaled Abou el Fadl, Conflict Resolution as a Normative Value in Islamic Law, in Douglas Johnson, Ed., Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Menachem Klein, A Possible Peace Between Israel and Palestine (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). Assaf Moghadem, The Salafi-Jihad as a Religious Ideology, (West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center, 2008), David Little and Donald K. Swearer, eds., Religion and Nationalism in Iraq (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East (New York: Harper Perennial, 2003). Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam (San Francisco: Harper, 2004), Chapter One, One God, Many Prophets, 1-54; Chapter Two, The Spectrum of Islam, Raphael Patai, The Arab Mind (New York: Hatherleigh Press, 2007). Chapter Nine, The Islamic Component of Arab Responsibility, ; Chapter 10, Extremes and Emotions, Fantasy and Reality, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran (New York: Continuum, 2003), Edward W. Said, From Oslo to Iraq (New York: Vintage Books, 2004), Cynthia Sampson, Religion and Peacebuilding, in William Zartman and Lewis Rasmussen, eds., Peacemaking in International Conflict (Washington: The United States Institute of Peace, 1997). David R. Smock, Ed., Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 2002).

10 10, Religious Perspectives on War (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, Yaroslav Trofimov, Faith At War (New York: Henry Holt & Co, 2006), Secondary Sources Scott Appleby, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998). Kevin Avruch, Culture and Conflict Resolution (Washington: U.S. Institute of Peace, 1998). Marcus Borg, Jesus: A New Vision (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987). D. Smith-Christopher, ed., Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Nonviolence in Religious Tradition (Boston: Boston Research Center for the Twenty-first Century, 1998). Daniel Byman, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015). William Chittick, ed., The Essential Seyyed Hussein Nasr (Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom, Inc, John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1995). Bruce Feiler, Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths (New York: Harper- Collins, 2002). Alan Dershowitz, The Case for Israel (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003). Farid Esack, Qu ran, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective on Interreligious Solidarity Against Oppression (Oxford, U.K.: Oneworld Publications, 1997). John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003)., Darrell J. Fasching and Todd Lewis, Religion and Globalization: World Religions in Historical Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press, Oct 2007). Peter W. Galbraith, The End of Iraq (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006). Ron Geaves, Aspects of Islam (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2005).

11 11 Vartan Gregorian, Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith (Washington: The Brookings Institution Press, 2003). Lee Griffith, The War on Terrorism and the Terror of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). Ted Robert Gurr (with contributors), Minorities at Risk: A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflict (Washington: United States Institute of Peace, Richard Horsley, Jesus and the Spiral of Violence: Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine (Minneapolis: Fortress Press). Douglas Johnson, ed., Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, Michael Jerryson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts (New York: St Martin s Press, 2005)., Warrior Politics (New York: Vintage Books, 2003). Henry Kissenger, Does America Need A Foreign Policy? (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001). Menachem Klein, A Possible Peace Between Israel and Palestine (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). Mujahid Usamah Bin Laden Talks Exclusively to Nida ul Islam about the New Powder Keg in the Middle East, Nida ul Islam, John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (Washington, DC: The United States Institute of Peace, 1997). Neil MacCormick, Nation and Nationalism, in Ronald Beiner, ed., Theorizing Nationalism (Albany: State University of New York, 1999). Martin E. Marty, Is Religion the Problem, Tikkun (Mar./Apr. 2002). Robert J. Miller, ed., The Apocalyptic Jesus: A Debate (Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge, 2001). Michael Morell, The Great War of our Time: The CIA s Fight Against Terrorism from al Qaʻida to ISIS (New York: Twelve: The Hachette Book Group, 2015). Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam (San Francisco: Harper, 2004).

12 12 Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Amal I. Khory, and Emily Welty, Unity in Diversity: Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East (Washington: The United States Institute of Peace, 2007). Raphael Patai, The Arab Mind (New York: Hatherleigh Press, 2007). Richard E. Rubenstein, Unanticipated Conflict and the Crisis of Social Theory, in John Burton And Frank Dukes, eds., Conflict: Readings in Management and Resolution (New York: St Martin s Press, 1990). Abdulaziz A. Sachedina, The Development of Jihad in Islamic Revelation and History, in James Turner Johnson and John Kelsay, eds., Cross, Crescent and Sword: The Justification and Limitations of War in Western and Islamic Tradition (New York: Greenwood, 1990). Abdul Aziz Said, Nathan C. Funk, and Ayse S. Kadayifci, eds., Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam: Precept and Practice (Lantham, MD: University Press, 2001). Edward W. Said, From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map (New York: Vintage Books, 2004). Regina M. Schwartz, The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Monotheism (Chicago: University Press, 1997). Michael Sells, The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998). Yaroslav Trofimov, Faith at War (New York: Henry Holt & Co, 2006). William Vendley and David Little, Implications for Communities: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity, in Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson, eds., Religion: The Missing Dimension of Statecraft (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994). Gerhard von Rad, Holy War in Ancient Israel (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1991). Srdjan Vrcan, The Religious Factor in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Paul Mojzes, eds., Religion and the War in Bosnia (Atlanta: American Academy of Religion Books, 1998). Frinke Wilmer, The Social Construction of Man, the State of War: Identity, Conflict and Violence in the Former Yugoslavia (London: Routledge Publishing, 2002). John Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapid: William B. Eerdmans, 1972). United Nations and U.S. Government Documents Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

13 13 Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or belief. UNCHR Annual Report on Religious Intolerance. UNCHR Press Releases on Religious Intolerance. art=1&count=7&expand=1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. International Religious Freedom Report, US Dept. of State. The Oslo Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Additional documents will be made available during the semester. End of Syllabus. Syllabus may be updated.